In a policy shift, 730 recruits took the oath yesterday to enter the NYPD – the first of two classes scheduled to graduate the Police Academy this year.

“Having two classes instead of one will let us smooth out the number of police officers on the street over the course of the year,” said Mayor Bloomberg following the swearing-in ceremony at Brooklyn College.

“Traditionally, what happened is you have a big class coming in, hired in the beginning of July, on the streets six months later, [attrition] over the next six months or so and then you jump it up again,” Bloomberg said.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the speeded-up hiring would make it easier to reach a target of 36,820 cops required under federal funding formulas.

The latest recruits should hit the streets in about six months, just before the Republican National Convention comes to town.

Kelly said the entire force, including the rookies, would get training on how to deal with large demonstrations before the GOP arrives.

“We obviously also instruct them on the rights of demonstrators, constitutional safeguards that we have and counter-terrorism training,” the commissioner said.